


Only One Thing Can Set You Free

by SocialDegenerate



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Love Confessions, Love Letters, M/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-21 22:36:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11367054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SocialDegenerate/pseuds/SocialDegenerate
Summary: Gladio gets a love letter; unfortunately a Crownsguard asshole finds it first (kink meme fill).So, one night as rain fell and Ignis struggled to sleep while thoughts of Gladio tortured him, he sat up and grabbed a nearby notebook. He might not be able to say the words but he could certainly write them, and this way he wouldn’t have to stand there while Gladio looked at him with pity, shaking his head and saying that it just couldn’t happen.





	Only One Thing Can Set You Free

**Author's Note:**

> This feels kinda similar to Think Before You Speak but it was a good prompt and I wanted to write it lmao.
> 
> [The original kink meme prompt.](https://ffxv-kinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/3892.html?thread=4989236)

Ignis hated feeling like a coward.   
  
All he had to do was open his mouth and just tell Gladio how he felt, but every time he tried he would freeze up and his brain would supply completely different words to the ones he wanted. Logically, it was a simple task.   
  
In practice, however, it was turning out to be far more difficult.   
  
There was no way that Ignis could look Gladio in the eyes as he was rejected, as he tore their friendship apart in a handful of seconds; but he was finding it harder and harder to keep his feelings to himself.   
  
So, one night as rain fell and Ignis struggled to sleep while thoughts of Gladio tortured him, he sat up and grabbed a nearby notebook. He might not be able to say the words but he could certainly write them, and this way he wouldn’t have to stand there while Gladio looked at him with pity, shaking his head and saying that it just couldn’t happen.   
  
The words flowed onto the page the way they never flowed out of his mouth, and after a few drafts Ignis felt like he’d written something he could be proud of, regardless of the outcome. Ignis wasn’t stupid enough to put his name to it anyway, so on the off chance that Gladio did actually read it, he was going to be able to express his feelings without endangering the friendship that Ignis cherished.   
  
It was the safest possible option.   
  


* * *

  
Gladio wasn’t particularly fond of a good portion of the Crownsguard, but he’d long understood the importance of being well-liked by the men he needed to rely on. It meant a lot of biting his tongue, unless someone said something truly offensive rather than just annoying. Most of them weren’t that bad, but Gladio didn’t particularly like anyone who only joined the Crownsguard to use it as a pick-up line.   
  
Kieryl was one of the guys that Gladio really couldn’t stand, but they’d been entering the Crownsguard training quarters at the same time and Gladio hadn’t managed to find an excuse to avoid a conversation. He just hoped that Ignis would show up to their training session early, so that he could escape and leave Kieryl to his assholery.   
  
Opening his locker to put his bag inside and grab his training gear, Gladio missed the folded piece of paper that fell from the door, but Kieryl snatched it out of the air before it could hit the ground.   
  
“What’s this?” He asked, not caring a single bit for Gladio’s privacy as he unfolded the paper. Gladio grabbed for it but missed, and Kieryl’s eyes widened as he scanned the writing Gladio could see covering the page.   
  
“Fuck off, no way!” Kieryl exclaimed. “You got a love letter, Amicitia.”   
  
“Bullshit,” Gladio said, even as Kieryl wriggled his eyebrows obnoxiously. “Give me that.”   
  
“Nuh-uh,” Kieryl laughed, backing away. “You gotta hear this shit.”   
  
Dramatically clearing his throat, Kieryl began to read. “Dearest Gladiolus- oooh, ‘dearest’, how cute- once again I find myself thinking of you, memories of our interactions filling my mind while I try to sleep.”   
  
Kieryl snickered meanly. “Wordy little bitch, isn’t she.”   
  
“Watch it,” Gladio finally snapped. He wasn’t sure who had left him that note, although something about the composition was tickling the back of his memories, but he wasn’t going to let some asshole insult her (them?).    
  
“Calm down, Amicitia,” Kieryl said, eyes still planted on the letter. “Listen to this-”   
  
The door to the locker room open, and Gladio’s head snapped towards it to see Ignis walking inside. He could have kissed him in that instant, but Kieryl spoke before Gladio could make his escape.   
  
“I know that you would never be interested in someone like me,” Kieryl said in a high-pitched, mocking voice, “but I wanted you to know that I am thinking of you with love in my heart.”   
  
Still standing in the doorway, Ignis’ shoulders were stiff with tension until he saw Gladio watching him, at which point he snapped his eyes to the floor and walked into the room, practically radiating discomfort. Gladio couldn’t blame him; he didn’t like being in the same place as Kieryl either.    
  
The man didn’t know where the line was between gentle teasing and all-out bullying, and it wouldn’t surprise Gladio if Ignis had been his victim once or twice. Ignis was strong and more than competent, but he had a scholarly vibe that left other Crownsguard members regularly underestimating him.   
  
Ignis probably could have decimated Kieryl with one hand, but that was beside the point.   
  
“Perhaps one day, I will find the words to tell you how I feel in person like you deserve,” Kieryl continued in the same mocking voice. “Titan’s balls, this chick is pathetic. I bet she’s fat and ugly; didn’t leave a name, so she’s gotta be someone you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole.”   
  
Ignis looked positively distressed now, his fingers clenched tight around the strap of his bag. Gladio was just about to say that they should leave when Kieryl noticed where he was looking, turning around to finally notice the third person in the room.   
  
“Scientia,” Kieryl grinned, and Gladio really didn’t like his tone of voice. “What d’you reckon? Should this guy try and find the hag that’s leaving him love notes like a kid?”    
  
As Gladio watched, Ignis’ gaze lifted off the floor to Kieryl’s face, to the note in his hands, and then across to Gladio. As their eyes met, Gladio put together the pieces of the puzzle that he’d been missing, the overly-formal language now obvious as the same one that Ignis tended to use in the reports he put together for and about Noctis.   
  
“Ignis-” Gladio started, but Ignis just shook his head. He was gone before Gladio could react and Kieryl laughed again, the sound grating in Gladio’s ears.    
  
“Wow, didn’t know that weirdo was so sensitive.”   
  
“Oh, go fuck yourself,” Gladio snarled, his temper finally snapping. Kieryl didn’t seem to notice what he’d done until Gladio’s fist was hitting him clean in the face, his nose snapping like it was made of plastic as he fell back against the row of lockers.   
  
“Motherfucker!” Kieryl gasped in pain, his hands flying to his face. Gladio took the chance to grab the note back, the page crumpling in his fist.    
  
“Clean out your shit,” Gladio snapped, his voice dangerously low. “You’re done.”   
  
He’d talk to his dad, he’d talk to Cor, he’d go straight to King Regis if he had to; but Kieryl wasn’t spending another minute in the Crownsguard. This was the final straw in a long list of incidents, and Gladio knew he should have been kicked out long before.   
  
There was just one thing that Gladio had to do first.   
  
Grabbing his bag and slamming his locker shut, Gladio stormed out of the locker room with the note still clenched in his shaking hands. He wasn’t sure where Ignis would have gone, but he had his suspicions.    
  
The royal library wasn’t usually open to anyone outside of the royal family themselves, but a ten-year-old Gladio had begged his dad to let him ask King Regis for permission to use it sometimes, which had been freely and genuinely given; he’d never actually seen Ignis in there, but he’d seen signs which indicated that Ignis too had permission to use the room.   
  
It was a quiet, private space, and it was a place where one wasn’t likely to ever be interrupted.   
  
Arriving in front of the locked door, Gladio took out his well-used key and mentally said a prayer to any Astral that might have been listening before quietly letting himself inside. The lights were on, which was as good a sign as any that someone was there; still, Gladio called out a hesitant, “Your Majesty?”   
  
“You’ll have to look elsewhere for him,” Ignis’ unmistakeable voice replied, and Gladio let out a quiet sigh of relief.   
  
“Actually, I was looking for you.” Stepping into the room, Gladio glanced around until he saw Ignis curled up in an armchair, a big book open in his lap. “I, uh, I got your note.”   
  
“So I heard,” Ignis said, his voice as dry as anything. He didn’t even bother denying it, and Gladio’s heart ached. “You don’t have to say anything.”   
  
“I’m sorry about that asshole,” Gladio said anyway, and Ignis just shook his head.   
  
“You didn’t do anything.”   
  
“I should’ve tried harder to stop him,” Gladio said, his fist balling again. “He’s fucking trash, and I-”   
  
“Gladio,” Ignis said, and Gladio’s mouth slammed shut. “We can pretend this never happened. It’s fine.”   
  
“What?” Gladio said, his heart pounding in his chest. “I haven’t actually had a chance to read it yet, but it sounded like you...like you really care.”   
  
“Yes, well, that little performance made me realise how silly and immature I sounded. If you’ll give me the letter back, I’ll dispose of it properly.”   
  
“No,” Gladio said sharply, his hand drawing close to his chest on reflex alone. “I want...I mean, it’s got blood on it. You wouldn’t want it back.”   
  
“Blood?” Ignis asked, sounding concerned. “What happened?”   
  
“There’s a chance- like, a small possibility- that I may have broken his nose. Just a little bit.”   
  
“Gladio!”   
  
“He deserved it,” Gladio grumbled, feeling oddly like he was a child being chastised. Ignis seemed to be torn about what to say next, and Gladio stepped into the room as the door closed behind him. Walking over to the big armchair, Gladio sank to his knees in front of it, gingerly reaching out to take Ignis’ hand in one of his own and rubbing his thumbs over the knuckles.   
  
“Iggy,” he said, waiting to see whether the hand would be taken back. When fingers just tightened a little around his own, Gladio smiled. “Read me the note?”   
  
Ignis seemed nervous but he reached out with his free hand anyway, and Gladio relinquished the note he was still holding to his chest. Ignis frowned at the crumpled, blood-spotted page, but he began to read anyway.   
  
The words sounded beautiful in their author’s smooth voice, completely different to how they had been the first time Gladio heard them. He let himself bask in the emotions he could hear, feeling warm and loved under the force of Ignis’ confession.   
  
“I just hope,” Ignis said as he came to the end of the page, his voice wavering slightly, “that you always remember that someone cares for you.”   
  
There was nothing written down after that, but Ignis took a deep breath and squeezed Gladio’s hand again. “With fondest regards, Ignis Scientia.”   
  
“Can we go on a date?” Gladio blurted out, Ignis’ wide eyes snapping up from the page to meet his own. “I want...I really want to take you out.”   
  
“Oh,” Ignis said, sounding caught off-guard despite the fact that Gladio was holding his damn hand. “Oh, I...well, you don’t have to. I wasn’t expecting…”   
  
“Let me take you out,” Gladio said firmly, lifting Ignis’ hand to press a kiss to the knuckles. “And then you can take me out. And then we can keep taking each other out.”   
  
“Yes,” Ignis said, and Gladio grinned. “I would...really like that.”   
  
“Thank you,” Gladio said, pressing another kiss to Ignis’ hand before standing up. “Now, I’m gonna go get that fuckwit fired, you wanna come?”   
  
“You can’t get someone fired over this.”   
  
“I can and I will,” Gladio said. “C’mon Iggy, you know it’s not just this. He’s been bullying new recruits since he was one himself, but now we have two witnesses who are willing to talk...right?”   
  
Ignis hesitated, but he resolutely nodded his head and placed his book to the side, standing up. “Right.”   
  
“And then afterwards, we can think about dinner.”   
  
Ignis’ smile was a brilliant, beautiful thing, and Gladio knew he was a goner. Ignis’ confession had opened the floodgates for emotions he hadn’t even considered before, but there was no ignoring them now.   
  
In what would probably turn out to be a scarily short time, he would love Ignis as surely as Ignis loved him. That much was certain.

**Author's Note:**

> [My Tumblr](http://socialdegenerate.tumblr.com)


End file.
